Eagles embarrass Cowboys to strengthen grip on NFC East

A sluggish offense for the better part of 30 minutes, an early special-teams malfunction and the loss of their placekicker did absolutely nothing to derail the freight train that is the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday night.

Playing in front of a national TV audience, they dismantled the Dallas Cowboys 37-9 with a defense that victimized its opponent with four takeaways and four sacks to all but wrap up the NFC East title.

At 9-1, the Eagles own the best record in the NFL and a 4-0 record in their division. The second-place Cowboys fell to 5-5, four games behind the Eagles, with six games remaining for each.

Dallas finished with just 225 yards and 14 first downs. And when the Eagles’ offense finally sprang to life in the second half, it had no answer.

Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz completed only 14 of 27 passes, but he tossed two more TD passes to increase his league lead to 25 without throwing an interception. He was aided immensely by a running game that produced 215 yards.

What’s more, Wentz didn’t take a single sack, and the few times he was flushed from the pocket all had to do with receivers being covered.

Right tackle Lane Johnson believes it was likely the offensive line’s finest game of the season, considering it came against a formidable Dallas front four.

“I’d have to go back and look at the film,” Johnson said. “But yeah, [Wentz] was hardly touched at all. That’s a lot different from some of the other games we had. Big division win. We’re in a good spot now.”

A game that Dallas led at halftime was broken open by a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns: a 17-yard pass from Wentz to Alshon Jeffery and a 37-yard fumble return by Nigel Bradham following a strip-sack of Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott by Derek Barnett.

Prescott was just 18 of 31 for 145 yards.

The excitement began right away, when Ryan Switzer took the opening kickoff back 61 yards to set the Cowboys up with a short field. But the Eagles did not allow a first down, then responded to a 48-yard field goal that gave Dallas a 3-0 lead with a methodical 75-yard touchdown drive to erase it.

Kenjon Barner’s circus catch for 22 yards along the left sideline was the main highlight. Barner then scored on a 4-yard run on the next play.

The Cowboys drove as far as the Eagles’ 9-yard line on their second possession, only to be stifled again. This time, the key stop was provided by cornerback Ronald Darby, who broke up a third-down pass in the end zone that was intended for Dez Bryant.

Bryant was playing his first game since Week 1, when a gruesome ankle dislocation sidelined him for the next eight games.

“They [were] about to try me,” he said. “I knew it in my head. The whole stadium probably knew it.”

Darby had passed a crucial test.

Trouble began brewing for the Eagles, however, when Jake Elliott pushed a 34-yard field goal attempt wide right near the end of the first quarter. Shortly thereafter, he went into the locker room to be examined, the result of a head injury he may have incurred by being forced to make the tackle on the game-opening kickoff. By the start of the third quarter, he was ruled out for the game.

Turns out, his services weren't needed for the rest of the half anyway as the offense misfired throughout while Dallas made a subtle adjustment to run the ball more and shorten the game.

It worked. Despite the Eagles intercepting Prescott twice in the first half, including one that was returned to the Cowboys’ 15-yard line, they weren’t able to convert either into points.

In the meantime, the Cowboys went to intermission with an 18:29 to 11:31 advantage in time of possession.

Along the way, they regained the lead by driving 59 yards on 15 plays to kick a 47-yard field goal. The drive lasted more than seven minutes.

Without Elliott, linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill was pressed into service as the emergency kicker. Though he wasn’t required to kick any extra points — the Eagles went for two after every second-half touchdown — or field goals, he did an extraordinary job on kickoffs.

He reached the goal line with his first attempt and had a touchback on his second, thanks to a defensive holding penalty on the touchdown that was enforced on the kickoff.

The only real trouble he encountered was when he was forced to kick off from the 20 following a 15-yard penalty on Carson Wentz for a low block on a botched two-point conversion.

But by then, the game was out of reach and Grugier-Hill knew the crowd at his locker would be huge after the game.

“I played soccer my whole life, so I felt like I could do it,” he said.

Not bad for the backup emergency kicker. Safety Chris Maragos would have been their first choice, but he’s out for the year with a knee injury.

Because the Eagles won the toss, they were able to defer on the opening kickoff, meaning they would get the ball to start the second half. They made the most of it, driving 75 yards and regaining the lead when Corey Clement scored from the 11 and then caught a two-point conversion pass to make it 15-9.

The drive was marked by a pair of crucial third-down conversions. The first came on a pass to Brent Celek that went for 28 yards on a play fake. Later, facing a third-and-9 from the Dallas 37-yard line, Wentz connected with Alshon Jeffery on an 18-yard pass to the Dallas 19, setting Clement up for two consecutive runs that resulted in the TD.

On the Eagles’ next series, it was Jay Ajayi’s turn. He broke free for a 71-yard run to set up another touchdown, which came when Wentz hit Torrey Smith with an 11-yard pass.

Wendell Smallwood missed five games for the Eagles since being drafted in the fifth round last year. But Sunday night’s showdown against the Cowboys marked the first time the running back was a healthy scratch.

With the recent acquisition of Ajayi and the return to health of tight end Zach Ertz, there simply is no more room for Smallwood, who in the Eagles’ previous game carried five times for 25 yards in a blowout victory over Denver.